The present invention relates to a removable slipper type device primarily for foot or hand which is used to assist a person in putting on a wetsuit, dry suit or other tight fitting garment and a method for manufacturing the same.
Cold water sports, such as surfing, diving, water skiing and the like, are enjoyed by millions of people worldwide. Participants living in moderate or cold water climates will most often wear a wetsuit to insulate them from the cold water temperature and to provide a more enjoyable sporting experience. Such wetsuits are typically made of a flexible insulating material, such as neoprene rubber, which allows the wearer to move freely in water.
Wetsuits generally have sealed seams and a single zipper entry system to minimize the amount of water flowing through the suit once the participant is in the water. The legs and arms of the suit are tapered toward the ankle and wrist openings and the suit is worn relatively tight on the body. The wearer will enter the suit from the zippered back portion, typically inserting his feet into the larger end of the tapered leg portion and will push his foot through the tapered leg sleeve and through the ankle opening. Once both legs have been inserted in this way, the wearer will typically push one hand through the tapered arm sleeve and out the wrist opening. He will then insert the other hand through the opposite sleeve and out the opposite wrist opening. Once both arms and legs are in, the wearer will zip up the back. The zipper is usually positioned such that the zipper starts at the small of the back and finishes at the top of the neck opening. Once zipped up, the wearer will generally put on optional booties, gloves and head coverings as needed.
Wetsuits can be very difficult to put on, particularly in dry, cold or sandy conditions. The tapered portions for legs and arms require the wearer to push his feet and hands through stretched suit material and out narrow openings. The friction of the stretched rubber suit passing over the skin can be significant and, depending on the thickness, tightness, flexibility, and age of the suit material, can prevent the wearer from getting feet (and hands) through openings without considerable effort. Sometimes the excess friction of the skin against the suit and stretching of the suit material as a leg or arm is inserted into the legs and arms leads to tearing of the expensive wetsuit fabric and/or suit seams, which then allows water into the wetsuit. The greater the friction, the more difficult it is to put the suit on. Getting sand or dirt between the suit material and the skin only compounds the problem and can make putting on a suit particularly uncomfortable, time-consuming, laborious, and detrimental to the integrity of the wetsuit.
Most wetsuit wearers will delay putting their wetsuits on until they are about to enter the water. While wetsuits are relatively comfortable to wear in cold water, they can be overly restrictive and/or too warm to wear for much time out of the water. That is why one will see most surfers or divers, for example, putting on their suits in a parking lot or beach just prior to their entering the water. This is often not an easy task because the ground in these areas can be exceptionally rough, hot, cold, sandy, or dirty. Wearing thick foot protection, such as shoes, sandals or booties, while putting a wetsuit on is generally impossible because thick protective footwear would prevent the wearer from putting his foot through the ankle opening.
One method for minimizing the effort of putting on a wetsuit is to decrease friction between the wearers skin and the suit material by placing a plastic bag over the wearer's foot, and sliding the foot into the leg and through the ankle opening. While the slick plastic material helps minimize friction, plastic bag rips easily while the foot is pushing through the length of the leg and the opening. Also, a bag is easy to rip while trying to pull it off the foot once the foot is through the opening, which often leaves torn pieces of the plastic bag stuck under the wetsuit above the ankle opening. Repeated use of a plastic bag for this purpose invariably stretches the bag to the point of tearing. A plastic bag is also not thick enough to provide any protection for the foot after it is through the ankle opening and placed on dirt or concrete. Due to its unintended use and loose form, a plastic bag can be too slick and dangerous to stand on. The risk of slipping within the bag while standing on a concrete or even dirt surface can be significant and, for this reason, it may not be worthwhile to use plastic bags for such purpose.
Another method for minimizing friction is putting on a thin nylon sock that is either crew cut or cut so the top of the sock is at the ankle line. Problems associated with this method include that the nylon material is either not slippery enough to substantially reduce friction or it soaks up water which creates more friction. The cut of the sock either at or above the ankle line creates another problem in that it is common for wetsuit wearers to grab the ankle portion of the wetsuit and pull as the foot is exiting the ankle opening. When the wearer grabs the bottom portion of the wetsuit while the ankle portion of the sock is still within the ankle portion of the wetsuit, it is too easy for the wearer to grab both the wetsuit material and the sock material thus impeding the foot from exiting the ankle opening. Wearers who use a sock or use no device to alleviate friction at the ankle and wrist opening of the suit will often pull and grab at the wetsuit material at these locations to extend the size of the opening so the foot or hand will pull through. This creates excess stretching and wear of the wetsuit material at these locations.
Having extra material at the ankle, typical among sock like prior art devices, can also cause bunching of the sock material at the location where the wetsuit leg or arm tapers to the ankle or wrist opening. The bunching creates more friction and impedes progress of the foot or hand through the opening. Further, upon exit of the foot from the ankle opening, the sock material at the ankle remains in the wetsuit requiring the wearer to reach down and pull the sock off the foot and through the ankle opening. In addition to being absorbent to water, sock materials generally pick up dirt, sand and pebbles making them difficult to clean and maintain. Sock material is generally made for comfortable wear as a sock and is necessarily stretchy and therefore susceptible to deformation after a few uses as a wetsuit entry device. Sock like prior art devices are also difficult to store because they absorb water, increase in size and get wet and dirty.
Another method of reducing friction and enabling a speedier entry into a wetsuit is to sew friction reducing material into the wetsuit at the wrist and ankle openings. This method is time consuming and creates excess stitching in the wetsuit. It also sandwiches material between the wetsuit neoprene material and the wearer's skin which can cause excess water to buildup in those locations and lessen the warmth of the suit at those locations. It is also easy for such material to rip at the stitches and/or bunch up at the wrist and ankle location(s) thus hindering the ability of the wearer to move the foot or hand through the opening.
Another method is to use spray silicone or other lubricants on one's foot or hands to minimize friction. Such products are expensive, messy, and need to be repurchased. They also do not keep the foot free of dirt before entering the wetsuit, and do not provide any protection for the foot once it is through the opening. For these reasons, lubricants are not very popular.
Most wetsuit wearers simply ignore all prior art methods of reducing friction because they are either too difficult or create other problems as described above. They will simply struggle to put on their wetsuits while standing on concrete, dirt or sand. Some will bring a mat to stand on which alleviates the footing problem but does nothing to help reduce friction. And mats require storage after use.
The inventor of the device is an avid and experienced surfer who tired of struggling to put on his wetsuit and determined that all prior art methods of alleviating friction were unsatisfactory for the various reasons described above. He determined after many months of thought, trial and error that what is needed is a device that can be put on and taken off easily, which is easy to maintain and store and which can be used for both hand and foot. The size of the device must be big enough to stay on the hand or foot as they are inserted through wetsuit openings but also cut to alleviate bunching and snagging or create the risk of being grabbed by the wearer as the wearer is pulling on the wetsuit to create a bigger opening through the ankle or wrist openings. The device must be relatively inexpensive to make and use, and be easily transferred from one surfer to the next.
The device embodying the principles of the invention described herein is a tailored, soft, slippery, fabric slipper that may be used to assist a wearer in putting on a wetsuit. It is easily placed on the foot (or hand) to allow the wearer to slip his foot (or hand) into tapered legs (or sleeves) and out the ankle (or wrist) openings. With the slipper device on, the foot is protected from dirt that might otherwise be stuck to the wearer's skin and increase friction between suit material and the skin.
The device reduces friction by providing a membrane between the wetsuit material and the wearer's skin. The device is intentionally tapered from its widest point in the direction of the heel in order to hug the ankle and foot slightly, which reduces the likelihood of the device sliding off the foot as the user moves and orients his foot to insert it into the wetsuit leg opening.
The configuration of the slipper device maximizes the reduction of friction at the heal as the wearer pulls the ankle portion of the suit because there is enough material at the tail of the sole to extend beyond the back of the heal to make sure there is material between the wearer's skin and the wetsuit material as the wearer forces the foot through the ankle opening. But the slipper material does not extend from the sole over the ankle of the wearer thus preventing a bunching of excess material at the ankle which could be inadvertently grabbed by the wearer as the wearer pulls on the wetsuit and extends the foot through the ankle opening. Similarly, when the devices is used on a hand instead of a foot, the lack of excess material at the pouch opening makes it less likely for material to bunch and impede progress of the hand through the wrist opening of the wetsuit. Further, the device may be made with strap or pocket which provides a convenient place for the wearer to grab with opposite hand or foot to remove the device without creating any excess material which would impede progress of the appendage through the suit opening.
Once the wearer has inserted his foot through the opening, the slipper provides protection from concrete, sand or dirt, and helps keep the foot conveniently free of dirt and pebbles. This is helpful as the next step in dawning the wetsuit is oftentimes for the wearer to put on neoprene booties to protect the feet from cold water. Wearing the device not only helps eliminate the wearers' annoyance and discomfort in having pebbles in his booties while surfing, but also saves the wearer time getting ready (since he does not have to clean his feet).
The device also eliminates the very common frustration of the wearer's toes snagging on wetsuit seams and folds, which can be painful, frustrating, damaging to both the wearer's skin and to the wetsuit fabric. It also eliminates snags which add time to putting the wetsuit on.
The device can be easily removed by either using a hand to pull on an attached tag or pocket, or by inserting the other foot into the pocket, and pushing, thereby sliding the remaining material through the opening. The device can be made with multiple pockets or tags to allow easy grasping with opposite hand or foot from the top or bottom of the device.
The slipper device is easy to carry, easy to store, and reusable. It can be made in a variety of smooth, water resistant and durable materials such as but not limited to nylon, silicone, tough plastic. The materials are resistant to distortion of its shape, even after many uses. And they won't absorb water or allow dirt sand or pebbles to cling to its surface.
Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present invention should be or are in any single embodiment of the invention. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, discussion of the features and advantages, and similar language, throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.
Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Once skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the invention.
These features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth below.
In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of various forms of the device embodying the principles of the present invention briefly described above will be rendered in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments in accordance with the principles of invention, examples of which are illustrated in accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with various embodiments, it will be understood that these various embodiments are not intended to limit the invention. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the scope of the invention as construed according to the claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of various embodiments in accordance with the invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be evident to one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details as previously stated. Further, the invention should not be construed as limited to being worn on a foot or hand. The invention may be applied to being worn on almost any part of the body that is to be inserted into a wetsuit and pulled through an opening. Although most of the embodiments depicted in the figures will be described with reference to the embodiment being worn on a foot, the descriptions can be understood to be relevant to use on a hand. In limited cases where the wearer is missing foot or hand, the invention could apply to some other portion of the wearer's arm or leg. For example, use of such words as “sole” or “toe” with regard to various portions of the device should not be interpreted as limiting the device to being worn on the foot only.
A perspective view of a preferred form of a device embodying the principles of the present invention as it is worn on a wearer's foot is presented in
The open heal portion of the sole 10 defines the tail 15 which covers and extends beyond the sole of the foot. Upon insertion of the wearer's foot through the ankle opening of a wetsuit, the tail covers the wearer's heal to reduce friction as the wearer's foot pushes through the ankle opening of the wetsuit but does not provide so much material as to create bunching of the material or to hinder easy removal from the suit. In alternative embodiments, the tail might wrap the sides and back of the wearer's heal. While such wrapping of the heal might assist in helping the device stays on the wearer's foot as the foot is pushed through the wetsuit, a tight wrap of the heal or elastic at the heal could make it more difficult to remove the device from the foot once the foot is through the ankle opening. This is why the preferred embodiment depicts an open healed form.
The material used to make the device 20 is preferably smooth, or alternately has a grain which runs in the direction of the toe making it easy to move the device through the wetsuit in the direction of the toe. The device 20 is preferably made of a thin, strong water resistant fabric (such as nylon, polyester, silicone treated nylon or other strong thin, light and relatively water resistant material used to make parachutes, sleeping bags, and backpacks). An example of a very specific type of suitable material would be the material called “Spectra” which is an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber made by the Honeywell company with a very high strength-to-weight ratio. Such materials are highly resistant to abrasion and are water resistant. Further such material is resistant to UV light similar to polyester. A variety of less expensive materials with similar characteristics could be used such as plastic or even rubberized or silicone treated cotton canvas.
The material used to make the slipper device may be finished with thread stitching (or other permanent bonding methods) at the seams in order to maintain the structural integrity and strength during use when pressure is exerted on the fabric and seams by the user when inserting or extracting a foot or hand from a wetsuit. The conical shape of the toe portion of the foot pocket effectively pushes the toes of the user together into a more streamlined shape to facilitate the user pushing the foot through the leg of the wetsuit, and also diminishes the chances that the user's toes will snag on seams or folds of the wetsuit as the foot (or hand) slides through.
In
With regard to the method of manufacture of certain embodiments of the inventive device as described above, one should note that the various blanks for each embodiment may be single piece or multi-piece. And each piece may have one or more portions. For example, the single piece blank depicted in
As previously described above, the device may be made out of any number of materials, including, but not limited to, heavy-gauge plastic, canvas, nylon, polyester (which tends to be very resilient, quick drying, resistant to biological damage such as mold and mildew, easy to wash, and able to hold forms well), or any other durable and smooth material. This includes fabrics that might have a smooth grain, wherein the material would be oriented at time of manufacture so that the smooth grain runs parallel to the direction of insertion of the foot (hand) through the wetsuit opening for maximum friction reduction.
It will be appreciated that the device embodying the principles of the invention as described herein also provides additional benefits to the user which may not specifically pertain to entry into a wetsuit. The device embodiments described above also provide users (particularly surfers) with a convenient container in which to store small items, such as bars of wax, for which they often have no other handy storage place. The device protects the items (such as sunglasses) from dirt and sand while being stored. Should the wearer choose to carry the device into the water, the device can be easily rolled and stored in a wetsuit pocket (such as a zippered side pocket). This is particular helpful when the wearer needs to walk a good distance from a car or camp to the place where she will put on the wetsuit at the water's edge. As many experienced surfers know, the water break is often located a long distance from a safe place for gear to be stowed. Having the option to carry the suit and put it on at water's edge is preferable in many instances to walking long distances in a heavy and uncomfortable wetsuit. Having a device to help entry into the wetsuit without creating a storage problem can be very desirable in typical circumstances.
The foregoing descriptions of various specific embodiments in accordance with the invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The invention can be construed according to the appended claims and their equivalents.
It will thus be appreciated by those skilled in the art that one will be able to devise numerous alternative arrangements that, while not shown or described herein, embody the principles of the invention and thus are within its spirit and scope.
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 61352661 filed 8 Jun. 2010 by the present inventor.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61352661 | Jun 2010 | US |